The American Geophysical Union--a
group of scientists among whom are many of the most respected names in global
warming studies--held their annual fall meeting in San Francisco this week. The
weather that greeted them had little warmth to boast, however: the Bay Area has
seen dangerous, record-setting cold temperatures this week.

The AGU holds regular seasonal
conferences in which top scientists from all earth and interplanetary science
fields participate. This year's meeting, beginning on December 9th and
concluding on Friday, included several exhibitions on space exploration,
extreme weather events, and studies on the impact of various natural energy
resource gathering techniques on the planet. It also included a panel on the Arctic and the dangers of a "sustained warming trend
in the region," as well as a panel dedicated to the findings of the United
Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change.

The full list of events for the
weekend is on AGU's website.

The panels had varying takes on
the impact of global warming. The panel on the climate changes of the Arctic revealed particularly intriguing information about
the planet's climate. As reported in Time this past summer, "much of the Arctic was cooler than it had been in years," something
conference participant David M. Kennedy called "a bit of a break in 2013
from the recent string of record-breaking warmth." He hastened to explain,
however, that the good news was, as Time puts it, still "a bad one
historically."

Meanwhile, the United Nations
panelists stood out in the conference for what they didn't reveal: information
on how clouds affect climate change; they admitted the scientific community
significantly lacks such research. Other events at the conference attempted to
pinpoint specific solutions for the climate change issue, including how to
reduce methane and other toxic emissions. (The answer? Nuclear power.)

In a classic case of the Gore Effect, these global warming
presentations occurred in a month seeing record colds in the city of San Francisco.
Temperatures in San José
fell to a record-shattering 30 degrees Fahrenheit--so low that it has caused
deaths by hypothermia in the area. The cold also caused serious issues with
black ice on the roads, not something with which the usual Bay Area driver must
contend. The cold weather was not limited to the Bay Area, however. Over 2,000
temperature records were shattered nationwide.

The scientific community has faced
increased problems in explaining the slowing of the global warming trend in the
past several years when their numbers appeared to have predicted a much
steadier increase. Even reports by the IPCC--a group present at the AGU
conference--demonstrate that the globe failed to reach the temperatures
expected due to carbon dioxide emissions this year, as well as how the benefits
of an increase in plant life and crops from a steadying warming trend would
outweigh the harm of climate change. Some studies have even speculated that
humans have a much smaller impact on climate change than previously believed.

The reality of such cold
temperatures amid calls of potential disturbances thanks to record heat are
certainly not ideal for climate scientists. However, what these record cold
temperatures mean for climate change theorists is yet to be seen. Given that
they occurred during this year's AGU meeting, we might expect a study by the
fall meeting in 2014 that attempts to explain this precipitous temperature drop
in the context of larger-scale climate change.

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Who Is Aristotle the Hun

"Aristotle the Hun" was the name given to me more than 30 years ago when a friend noticed that in spite of my intellect I was still an Iowa farm boy.

Rev. Sam Sewell, is Director of Best Self USA, a Pastoral Psychotherapist, serves on the faculty of Naples Community Hospital as an instructor for Clinical Pastoral Education, President of the Theological Center in Naples, a member of Mensa where he serves as Gifted Youth Coordinator, a U.S. Navy Veteran, and a Member of the Association For Intelligence Officers. He is a frequent commentator on mental health and religious issues.His award winning research on family issues is published in several languages. Member of Sigma Delta Chi Honor Society

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"Though defensive violence will always be 'a sad necessity' in the eyes of men of principle, it would be still more unfortunate if wrongdoers should dominate just men."- St. Augustine

"A new idea is first condemned as ridiculous, and then dismissed as trivial, until finally it becomes what everybody knows." -

William James

"This is the real task before us: to reassert our commitment as a nation to a law higher than our own, to renew our spiritual strength. Only by building a wall of such spiritual resolve can we, as a free people, hope to protect our own heritage and make it someday the birthright of all men." --Ronald Reagan

A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government."-- Edward Abbey

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."John Stuart Mill

"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government." ~~~George Washington

"I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University." William F. Buckley, Jr.

"Conservatives are enemies of the government. Liberals are enemies of the nation because they are not enemies of the government."Aristotle the Hun

"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?"Albert Einstein

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning how to dance in the rain." ANON

"That government is best which governs least."Thomas Paine

“A nation that substitutes emotion and empathy for rational thought will eventually digress into the Dark Ages,”Congressman Steve King (R-IA),

INTEGRITY: The highest courage is to dare to be ourself in the face of adversity. Choosing ethics over convenience and truth over popularity means there is never a wrong time to do the right thing.

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies.

The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

They may be more likely to go to Heaven for good intentions yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be “cured” against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.~ C. S. Lewis

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." ANON

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